[[Genesis 1-8 (Translated)|Genesis 3:1-10]] explains that only humans understand good and evil, and clothe themselves because of it. Repeatedly scientists have attempted to demonstrate that animals can understand morality also, but every attempt has failed. No animal (other than humans) has ever been found that clothes itself.

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[[Genesis 1-8 (Translated)|Genesis 3:1-10]] explains that only humans understand good and evil, and clothe themselves because of it. Repeatedly scientists have attempted to demonstrate that animals can understand morality also, but every attempt has failed. No animal (other than humans) has ever been found that clothes itself. However, as as limited case, animals do demonstrate altruistic behavior.

Biblical scientific foreknowledge has another benefit: it facilitates improvements in the translation of verses that describe scientific-related events, such as Jesus's Calming the Storm, the reference to the universe in Hebrews 1:10, and the changing of water into wine at the wedding feast.

Geology

Flood

Modern scientists long opposed a young earth created by God whereby cataclysmic flooding, such as the Great Flood described in the Bible, shaped the landscape. However, ample counterexamples to an old earth exist and the discovery in the Northwest of "giant ripple marks, 50 feet high and 200-500 feet apart" proved that a cataclysmic flood did indeed occur. As a result, "[a]mong geologists, the concept of a catastrophic flood came to be accepted by the late 1950s."[1]

Underwater springs

Only in moderns times have scientists become aware of enormous underwater springs feeding into the oceans, and the very deep valleys at the bottom of the oceans.

But the Bible repeatedly describes this thousands of years earlier: "on that very day the deep subcrustal springs were broken open, and the windows of the sky were thrown open." (Genesis 7:11 (CBP), emphasis added). And again, in 2 Samuel 22:16, the Bible says, "And the channels of the sea appeared, the foundations of the world were discovered ...." (KJV)

Agriculture

In the late 1960s and early 1970s, intellectuals insisted that the world's population would grow larger than the food supply, resulting in mass starvation. Yet there are examples in both the Old and New Testaments of the food supply increasing to be more plentiful than expected. Indeed, by 2011 obesity was far more prevalent and harmful than hunger.

History

The Bible describes a Great Flood occurring around 3300 B.C., or about 5300 years ago. It involved a cataclysmic rainstorm of a magnitude never seen before or since. For centuries atheists have denied its possibility.

In 1991, an "ice mummy" was discovered: a remarkably preserved ancient body, including even the contents of his last meal, due to an extraordinary ice storm in the Alps. By radiometric carbon dating[3], the scientists found that the occurrence of this massive ice storm in the mountains (and rainstorm below) was 5300 years ago.[4]

Health, Biology and Medicine

Common DNA

John 1:3 explains that "All things were made by Him; not one thing was made without Him." If something had been made without Him then creatures would exist that had completely different DNA from other creatures.

World obesity epidemic and obesity problem within the atheist population

Two of the major risk factors for becoming obese according to the Mayo Clinic are poor dietary choices and inactivity.[5] According to the Gallup Inc., "Very religious Americans are more likely to practice healthy behaviors than those who are moderately religious or nonreligious."[6]

The Apostle Paul wrote that in the end times, men would be lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God (2 Timothy 3:1-4). In May of 2012, the World Health Organization reported that "Worldwide obesity has more than doubled since 1980."[7] In 2008, more than 1.4 billion adults, 20 and older, were overweight. Of these over 200 million men and nearly 300 million women were obese.[8]

Two of the major risk factors for becoming obese according to the Mayo Clinic are poor dietary choices and inactivity.[9] In addition, Chuck Norris says the most common cause of obesity is a hedonistic lifestyle (see: Chuck Norris on the topic of obesity). According to Gallup Inc., "Very religious Americans are more likely to practice healthy behaviors than those who are moderately religious or nonreligious."[10]

Eighth Day Blood Clotting Factors

In Genesis 17:12, God mandated that Abraham circumcise his sons on the 8th day after birth. In 1935, it was discovered that Vitamin K, together with prothrombin, causes blood coagulation, (important in any surgical procedure). On the 8th day, the amount of prothrombin present is elevated above 100% of normal and is therefore the only day in the male’s life in which this will be the case (normally). If surgery is to be performed, day 8 is the perfect day to do it as vitamin K and prothrombin levels are at their peak.

Lifespan

The Bible put the maximum lifespan for man at 120 years (Genesis 6:3), the typical lifespan at 70 years and the typical for a good-living person at 80 years (Psalm 90:10).

Thousands of years after that was written, despite immense advances in medicine and technology, these figures remain remarkably accurate. The longest recorded life of a man is precisely 120 years (Shigechiyo Izumi), the average lifespan for a man is roughly 70 years, and the average for a good-living man is about 80 years.

Jeanne Calment lived to age 122, only two years past 120. She was said to have never worked and used olive oil on her skin, outliving all of of her feminist counterparts.

Oldest Human Ancestor

The Bible suggests that the oldest maternal ancestor — Eve — first lived slightly more than 6000 years ago.[12] The mutation rate of mitochondria indicates roughly the same date for the most recent common human ancestor.[13]

Anesthesia

The first surgical operation described in the Bible was the removal of a rib from Adam, which was performed by first putting Adam into an unconscious, "deep sleep-like trance."[14] This was the equivalent of anesthesia — thousands of years before anesthesia using inhaled ether was developed by William Morton in 1846. Had scientists and physicians been more openminded about Genesis 2:21 (perhaps they had considered it a miracle, and thus impossible for humans to achieve), they may have discovered anesthesia far sooner, and saved many more lives.

Bloodletting hastens death

At the time of Jesus and for centuries afterward, arteries and veins were thought to be filled with air, and blood was viewed as something to be used up rather than recirculate. Bloodletting -- the practice of intentionally draining blood from a patient -- was common medical practice through the time of George Washington, hastening his death prematurely for reasons not understood until years later.[15]

Most victims of crucifixion in Roman times languished on the cross for days. But the Bible describes how Pilate, who crucified many, was surprised at how quickly Jesus passed away. 2000 years later, scientific knowledge has advanced to understand that this was caused by his prior loss of blood during his scourging (being brutally whipped), a punishment typically given instead of crucifixion.

Homosexuality and disease

Eyesight

The description in the Gospel of Mark 8:24 for the sensation when one's eyesight is restored includes his perception of "trees walking." This perception was first confirmed nearly 2000 years later as physicians developed medical techniques for restoring eyesight.[16]

Maximum Human Height

Atheists thought the size of Goliath in the Bible to be absurdly large (over nine feet tall), until Robert Wadlow grew to nearly 9 feet tall and was still growing when he died at a young age in 1940.

Quarantining Against Leprosy Epidemics

Although leprosy is not as contagious as other infectious diseases, and some forms of it (such as tuberculoid or paucibacillary form are not contagious), Leviticus 13 and 14 set forth rules to prevent epidemics of this disease among the people of Israel. Western science did not catch up until, in 1663, such laws were introduced in America in an attempt to curb an outbreak of smallpox.

Centuries ahead of medical science, Jesus subsequently explained that leprosy was not as contagious as people thought.

Hygiene

Millennia before germ theory was proposed in the late 19th century, Leviticus 15 mandated hygiene laws that included bathing, washing of clothing, destruction of contaminated pottery and washing of hands.

In Matthew 15:2, Jesus then curbed compulsive hand-washing by explaining why it was no longer typically necessary (in a non-farming, non-medical context) with respect to man's digestive system.

Digestive System

It was common thought throughout history that infections and illness resulted from the digestive system, based on unclean hands or food. Jesus rejected that view, and declared hand-washing before meals to be typically unnecessary. It took many centuries before science caught up to the Bible on this.

It is part of the Jewish kosher law to not eat milk with meat. In some Jewish homes they have separate refrigerators for meat and milk products. It comes from Deuteronomy 14:21 "...Do not cook a young goat in its mother’s milk." There is evidence that the body has difficulty digesting both meat and milk at the same time.

Also, as part of the Jewish kosher law a pork is on the list of prohibited foods. Under cooked pork can transmit Trichinosis, a parasitic disease that can infect muscle tissue, the brain, and the central nervous system, among other parasites and zoonotic diseases. Creation deniers can counter this point only with such desperate non-arguments as asking why God had to create trichinae at all and then allow them onto the Ark.

Although scientists dismissed ideas involving abiogenesis, or the process from which life emerges from nothing, as nothing more than archaic beliefs in spontaneous generation, the Bible very clearly depicts an occurrence of this phenomenon, for beginning in Genesis 1:20, God creates life from nothing. It was not until the early 20th century that science finally began to accept the viability of abiogenesis, a view that the Bible had held for almost 2000 years, except that atheists falsely claim that abiogenesis is somehow possible without a creator.

Awareness while Unborn

Abortion advocates argue that it is ok to terminate a baby while dismissing the pain inflicted by ending an innocent life. They argue that a fetus cannot feel pain because senses are incomplete. There is a heart-beating human in the womb that can feel even though still unborn and developing. In modern times, we now know the baby in the womb is alert, aware of their mother's emotions, recognizes voices, responds to stimuli and music. The Bible tells us the baby feels (1 Luke 44), "the babe leaps for joy in Elizabeth’s womb at the sound of Mary’s voice." The inwomb developing baby, John the Baptist, notices the presence of the unborn Lord in Mary, and is excited. In addition (St. Paul to the Galatians 1:15), "God… from my mother’s womb had set me apart and called me through his grace." Paul's very first thought, feeling awareness, began while unborn.

Embalming

Mark 14:3-8 describes an embalming process to preserve a body after death, which was not discovered in the West until 1867.

The significance of blood

The Old Testament teaches that the life of all flesh is its blood (Leviticus 17:13-14 (KJV)). Secular science remained ignorant of the properties and circulation of blood until the 17th century A.D.[17]

Menstruation

The Biblical laws concerning menstruation, including the setting apart of the menstruating woman and the prohibition on intimacy during menstruation, address health concerns that were not known to secular science until the 20th century.[18] Also, modern science has only very recently discovered that following such rules dramatically reduces the rate of illegitimacy.[19]

Cloning

Genesis 2:21-22 (KJV) records that God made a woman out of one of Adam's ribs. Secular scientists did not believe that cloning such a complex organism (apart from plants) was possible until 1997.[20]

Inbreeding

Leviticus 18:7-11 elaborates in detail the relationships it regards as incestuous unions, to forbid inbreeding. Secular science was able to scientifically explain the mechanisms and risks of inbreeding only in modern times.

Cosmology

The Starlight Problem

The Starlight Problem confounds all theories about the universe: light has reached us from stars that are too far away to transmit the light within the age of the universe. But Genesis explains this easily: "let there be light" means that God created light, not merely stars.

Planet Formation at Dawn of Universe

Theories of an old universe insisted that planet formation did not occur until long after the origin of the universe, contrary to the Book of Genesis. But in 2012 scientists announced the existence of planets that formed "at dawn of universe."[21]

UFOs and Extraterrestrial Life

For most of the 20th century, scientists typically believed in the existence of extraterrestrial life, despite the lack of any reference to it in the Bible. After spending many billions of dollars looking for such life, and investigating countless reports of UFOs, no such life has been found.

Number of Stars

The Bible repeatedly refers to the number of stars as being innumerable,[22] despite scientists insisting throughout most of history that there were only about 6000 stars. In the early 17th century Galileo turned a telescope to the heavens and discovered a great number of stars that had been previously invisible to the naked eye.[23]

Not until the 20th century did scientists discover the tremendous number of stars:[24]

There are "10 times as many stars as grains of sand on all the world's beaches and deserts," totaling "7 followed by 22 zeros or, more accurately, 70 sextillion.

But even that scientific estimate was much too low. On December 1, 2010, scientists admitted:[25]

"a cosmic embarrassment of riches – the universe appears to hold three times the number of stars many astronomers might have estimated only a year ago."

Each Star is Unique

Although the use of telescopes to chart the outer-reaches of God's heavenly creation was developed around the 16th century in Europe, the Bible accurately hypothesized that every star is unique.

"There is one glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, and another glory of the stars; for one star differs from another star in glory"- 1 Corinthians 15:41 [26]

Spherical Sun and Earth

The Book of Isaiah establishes that the true shape of the earth is a sphere:

“

He sits above the sphere of the earth, and its inhabitants look to him like grasshoppers. He stretches out the galaxies like a curtain, spreading them out like a tent to live under: - Isaiah 40:22 (CBP)

”

Likewise, with respect to the sun, the Book of Proverbs 8:27 (ESV) states:

“

When he established the heavens, ... he drew a circle on the face of the deep

”

The Book of Isaiah was written circa the 8th century BC, and the Book of Proverbs even earlier. This was centuries before Greek philosophers, beginning with Pythagoras, theorized the earth was round, and it was not discovered until 2012 that the sun is perfectly spherical. Astronomers were not able to conclude until well into the second millennium of Christ that the Earth is also a sphere.

Earth free floating in space

The book of Job states that God "hangs the earth on nothing." It also contrasts with pagan mythologies such as Atlas holding up the earth or the earth being supported by a giant turtle, as in ancient Hindu and native American myths.

The Bible presaged the modern view that space is in fact empty, which wasn't known until the dawn of the 20th century when ether theories became disfavored.

Darkness, and Unexplained Ripples in Cosmic Background Radiation

Genesis Chapter 1 explains that God created light first, rather than merely stars. A "big bang" would result in light everywhere, without darkness, and without ripples in cosmic background radiation. Yet in the 21st century ripples were discovered in cosmic background radiation, which can only be plausibly explained by recognizing that light was created first.

Meteoroids

The Revelation of Saint John notes,

“

And the second angel sounded, and as it were a great mountain burning with fire was cast into the sea: and the third part of the sea became blood; And the third part of the creatures which were in the sea, and had life, died; and the third part of the ships were destroyed. Revelation 8:8-9 (KJV)

”

This accurately describes meteoroids, essentially large chunks of rock lit on fire by the shock of entering the earth's atmosphere. They were not discovered until 1801, and their composition was not otherwise known until the 20th century.

Stellar proper movement

In Job, there is a list of challenges that are constructed in the form of questions, with the idea that man can't do it, but God can.

Among those challenges, two are remarkable: one mentions the untying of Orion's belt, and the other is the binding of the Pleiades. One recently astronomers could measure the proper movement of those stars; Orion's belt is moving apart, with each star going in a different direction, while the Pleiades are moving together.

Space flight

Many theorize that the book of Ezekiel contains descriptions of spaceships and rockets, as they would have been described by someone thousands of years ago. Author Blumrich has even published an entire book about this.

Expanding universe

The Bible explains, in 17 different verses, that God "stretched out" the heavens,[27] in other words, expanding the fabric of space-time from a smaller size to a much larger one. Scientists have discovered only in the last 100 years that, by studying the red shift of galaxies, the universe indeed appears to be expanding, or "stretching out."

Meteorology

Ecclesiastes 1:6 notes, "The wind goeth toward the south, and turneth about unto the north; it whirleth about continually, and the wind returneth again according to his circuits." This described the jet stream long before its 19th-20th century discovery.

Water cycle

The existence of the water cycle was not known until imperial Roman times, but the Bible described it over a thousand years before that!
See Ecclesiastes 11:3, Job 26:8 and Amos 9:6

Physics

Impossibility of a Grand Unified Theory

Billions of dollars and millions of hours have been wasted by atheists in futile pursuit of a "grand unified theory" for physics. But Genesis explains that the creation of light was done in a separate, initial creation, free of darkness or entropy, and thus incapable of unification with matter.

Light and Color

Prior to the work of Isaac Newton, white was considered to be the fundamental color of light, and other colors (such as red, green and blue) were formed by adding to white light. Under that traditional theory, the fullness of all light (a combination of all colors of light) would result in something other than pure white.

The transfiguration of Jesus is described with remarkable consistency in all three synoptic Gospels: in the fullness of light Jesus and his clothing display an intense white, whiter than any bleach could produce. This illustrates what was not discovered and accepted until nearly 1700 years later: that white is the combination of other fundamental colors, and the purest white light is formed by a perfectly full combination (see Prism).

Action-at-a-distance

Jesus demonstrated action-at-a-distance, as recounted in John 4:46-54. Scientists, particularly atheists, denied the possibility of this phenomenon for thousands of years. When Newton proposed action-at-a-distance as the basis of gravity, scientists continued to reject it, but eventually accepted it as being true.

Quantum Mechanics

Observation of the Wave Function

The second chapter of the Gospel of John describes the conversion of water into wine by Jesus at a wedding reception. John 2:9 states: "When the host of the wedding feast tasted the water, it had been made into wine." This passage implies that the drink was not wine until it had been tasted, or observed. Possibly, the drink was a superposition of the state of wine and the state of water until it was observed as wine.

The miraculous calming of the storm is typically translated as the result of a "rebuke" by Jesus of the bad weather. But a closer look at the Greek reveals that the key term means "judge" rather than "rebuke", and thus it was the act of Jesus observing the chaos that caused it to "collapse" into an orderly state, similar to the effect of observing a wave function.

In Matthew 16:19, Jesus draws a then-unusual distinction between what is fixed and what is uncertain by declaring, "Whatever you make binding on earth will be binding in heaven, and whatever you set loose on earth will be set loose in heaven."[29] This may describe the fundamental uncertainty that continues unless and until there is human observation that then causes the wave function to collapse into a particular ("bound") state.

Both the Old and New Testaments refer to a fundamental uncertainty that requires observation to resolve, akin to the Heisenberg Uncertainty Principle discovered in the 1920s:

"The earth came to exist in an utterly formless and empty state." Genesis 1:2.

The master refusing to order the removal of the weeds sowed among the wheat because of the uncertainty in distinguishing between the two until later: Matthew 13:24-30.

Wave-Particle Duality

Particles are subject to gravity; waves are not. Wave-particle duality, first discovered in the 20th century, allows for a particle to sometimes be subject to gravity and sometimes not.

The wave-particle duality was described nearly 2000 years earlier in the Gospel account of Jesus walking on water: Mark 6:45-54. A close reading of the passage reveals the wave-like (or light-like) characteristic of the walking on water:

“

he walked on the surface of the lake and came to the boat, nearly passing it. But when they saw him walking on water, they thought it must have been a ghost, and cried out.

In a more general sense, Jesus could be viewed as the "particle" and the Holy Spirit as the "wave" of God. A fuller understanding of the Trinity could have opened the eyes of scientists much earlier to the fundamental wave-particle duality of nature ... and still could.

Quantum tunneling

Quantum tunneling is the ability of particles to move through energy barriers even though ostensibly impossible based on classical laws of mechanical physics. This was not discovered by scientists until the 20th century.

Jesus proved this was possible in John 20:26, when he appeared before the Apostles in a closed room with completely shut doors.

Classical Relativity

Romans 10:6-7: But the righteousness that is by faith says: "Do not say in your heart, 'Who will ascend into heaven?'" (that is, to bring Christ down) 7"or 'Who will descend into the deep?'" (that is, to bring Christ up from the dead).

Equating ascending into heaven to bringing Christ down is an example of the fact that there is no universal reference frame, and only relative speeds matter.

The Book of Genesis states that the darkness or chaos in the universe can never overcome the light, or order. This same concept was not discovered in physics until the development of the Second Law of Thermodynamics, which holds that heat (or order or light) always travels in the direction of cold (or disorder or darkness), and never in the opposite direction. On the other hand, the Second Law of Thermodynamics predicts a heat death for the universe; thus the universe will eventually be dark and chaotic. Thus, the validity of this statement is questionable.

Hebrews 1:10-11 explains that the universe shall "wear out" like a "garment", centuries before the discovery of the physical law that entropy is always increasing.

The nature of air

Until about 300 years ago, common knowledge believe that the air was "empty" and didn't weigh anything. But Job 28:25 says "To establish a weight for the wind, And apportion the waters by measure" indicating that the divinely inspired author knew the air had substance and weight.

Conservative forces

James 1:17 describes the electromagnetic forces (light) as having no "shadow of turning." Not understood for nearly 2000 years, this predicts that electromagnetic forces are conservative such that their line integrals over a closed loop are zero.

Mathematics

Zero

Mathematicians in Western Europe did not discover zero until many centuries after the Bible was written. But there are hundreds of references to the concept of zero throughout the Bible.

The only miracle described in all four Gospels is the multiplication of loaves and fish by Jesus, thought for thousands of years to be a mathematical and physical impossibility. But the 20th century discovery of the so-called Banach-Tarski Paradox proved a mathematical basis for creating identical copies of an object out of no extra material.

Axiomatization of Arithmetic

The full set of axioms for integer arithmetic may be found in the Bible, as demonstrated by J.C. Keister.[30] For example, Luke 12:52 is a striking statement of the commutative law for addition: "For from this point forward there will be five in one house divided, three against two, and two against three." This understanding presaged both later attempts at the axiomatization of arithmetic by Peano and the development of abstract algebra in the 19th and 20th centuries.

Most thinkers scoffed at the concept of infinity for thousands of years, despite being referenced in the Bible in many ways. See, e.g., Psalm 147:4-6 (God's "understanding is infinte"); Matthew 20:1-14 (parable of the wages for the workers in the vineyard); Matthew 16:26 (one's soul has an infinite value to him, and nothing else can be worth more).

But Georg Cantor, deeply inspired by Christianity, established a logical foundation for infinity that revolutionized all of mathematics as a result, with his development of set theory to accomplish his goal.

Georg Cantor's development of set theory in the late 19th century was initially rejected by many great mathematicians, including Henri Poincare, before it became the basis for nearly all of mathematics today. But the Bible contains many hints in support of set theory, as in the "last shall be first, and the first shall be last."

Calculus

The Bible emphasizes the importance of limits as a key distinction between this world and God; Calculus consists of relying on limits to derive useful results.[31]

James 1:17 states that the first and second derivatives of God's light (truth) is zero, more than 1600 years before calculus was discovered: "with [God] there is no variation or shadow of turning."[32]

Sociology

Crime

Mark 4:22 says how nothing can be hid, neither can anything be kept secret. Empirical statistics show that the vast majority of crimes worldwide are solved.

Zoology

Inability of Animals to Understand Morality

Genesis 3:1-10 explains that only humans understand good and evil, and clothe themselves because of it. Repeatedly scientists have attempted to demonstrate that animals can understand morality also, but every attempt has failed. No animal (other than humans) has ever been found that clothes itself. However, as as limited case, animals do demonstrate altruistic behavior.

Existence of dinosaurs

Dinosaur fossils were not discovered until the 19th century, but the book of Job describes enormous creatures called behemoth and leviathan, the descriptions being similar to dinosaurs and other prehistoric creatures. It may also have referred to another similarly giant now-extinct species. Other dinosaur like creatures mentioned are the cockatrice and satyr [33]

Lions' killing methods

Until the 1970s naturalists believed that lions killed their prey by biting through the neck or by breaking the neck with a swat of a paw, while the Bible says that lions suffocated their prey. (Nahum 2:12) It was not until the 1970s that it was discovered that the Bible was correct.[34] Lions fit their mouth over the mouth and nose of their prey and hold it while it suffocates, in addition to other killing methods.

Giant sea creatures and Jonah

The Book of Jonah describes his survival in the belly of a giant sea creature for 2.5 to 3 days. Scientists declared this to be impossible due to powerful stomach acids that quickly break down any material and the lack of breathable air inside marine animals.

In 2010, scientists found the following materials intact in the belly of a gray whale that had died after being stranded on a Northwest beach:[35]

a pair of sweat pants

a golf ball

over 20 plastic bags

small towels

duct tape

surgical gloves

Of course, many sea creatures have gone extinct in the thousands of years since Jonah lived.

Worker ants

Proverbs 6:6-8 correctly states the sex of worker ants (female), using the correct one of the two grammatical genders available in Biblical Hebrew. Secular entomologists would not discover that fact until the 19th century.[36]

Linguistics

Common Descent?

The theory of evolution suggests that all languages are descended from a common ancestral language, and for a century (1860 to about 1960) scientists clung to that view. But now most linguists identify many different families of languages that have no common ancestor, just as described in Genesis 11 with the Tower of Babel.

Earliest Hebrew Writings

Skeptics have claimed that Hebrew writing did not exist before the 6th century B.C. But a recent Israeli archaeological dig dated four centuries earlier, in the 10th century B.C., included an artifact found at Khirbet Qeiyafa in the Elah Valley. This artifact contained a written inscription in Hebrew relating to "slaves, widows and orphans." Haifa University Professor Gershon Galil noted that this disproves the theory that the Bible could not have been written before the 6th century.[37]

Economics

Jesus stated that there will always be poverty,[38] yet liberals repeatedly insist that poverty can be eliminated with more government spending. Every attempt to eliminate poverty has failed just as Jesus predicted. In 1991 Ronald Coase won a Nobel Prize in Economics for the Coase Theorem, which implies that government attempts to reduced poverty will interfere with efficient operation of the economy, and thereby reduce wealth.

Government and Politics

Nation State

Ancient Israel, as described in the Old Testament, was a nation-state and that model was not utilized again until thousands of years later, well after the Renaissance in Western Europe. This model of a nation-state has become the modern standard worldwide.

Separation of Powers

The separation of powers adopted successfully by the U.S. Constitution in 1787, with the legislative, executive, and judicial branches having separate authority and jurisdiction, was first described in the Old Testament.[39]

Classical photography, using negative imaging, was predated by the Shroud of Turin with respect to the imaging on the Shroud likely due to the light of the Resurrection. The Shroud (Greek: σινδών - sindón) is mentioned in three Gospels: Matthew 27:59, Mark 15:46, Luke 23:53, while John 20:5-7 talks about a face cloth or napkin (Greek: σουδάριον - soudárion - perhaps the Sudarium of Oviedo), and a piece of fine linen (Greek: ὀθόνιον - othonion). The description by the eyewitness John implies that his sighting of the Shroud may have confirmed his faith, though he doesn't mention its photograph-like image [41].

Atheists unsuccessfully attempt to discredit the Bible based on science. Here are some examples:

Bat as a bird

A favorite evolutionist canard is that Leviticus 11:13-19 labels the bat, a mammal, as a bird. But this is an obvious failure of translation, as the Hebrew term 'owph did not entail the "clade" of birds, but was a non-biological category referring to any winged creature, mammalian, avian, or insect. The KJV translation as "fowl" is simply incorrect.

Incorrect value of Pi

Two sections of the bible (1 Kings 7, 23-26, 2 Chronicles, 4, 2-5) appear to indicate that the correct value of Pi is 3, whereas Pi is in fact an irrational number, equalling approximately 3.14159. Atheists, including Sam Harris and Richard Dawkins, allege that this value indicates the fallacious nature of scripture.[46] However, a simple explanation of the claimed "contradiction" is that the Bible records the ratio of the actual object which Hiram created, not that of a mathematical sphere. The claim that it was round all about does not equate to a claim that it was a perfect sphere, as atheists have claimed.[47] Additionally, pi to one significant digit is 3. Just because the measurement is only given to one significant digit does not mean it was precisely that amount. Of course, since pi is an irrational number, it would be impossible to give a truly precise measurement.

↑John Calvin, who opposed the Catholic Church, wrote a book in 1543 criticizing all material evidence of Jesus and the martyrs. In it he claimed that because the negative image on the Shroud is not described in the Gospels, it must not be authentic. John Calvin: Traité des Reliques, Geneve 1543, translated by Valerian Krasinski: A treatise on Relics, Edingburgh 1854